Here is the post I have been promising to do. I have suffered with fibromyalgia for over 20 years and have tried so many different things to help with the pain. I was taking 2,400 mg of ibuprofen and 4,000 mg of Tylenol a day and was eyeballing the Vicodin in my medicine cabinet. I got tired easily and moved a lot slower than others my age. At times I could barely get out of a chair or bed. But I kept a positive attitude and kept looking.

While on this HealingWell forum, Jeannie started talking about malic acid/magnesium supplements and how they helped her. I was very leery. I couldn't imagine something like that would help so I didn't try it right away. But, I did some research and finally, because nothing else was working for me, I decided to give them a shot.

I can't even begin to tell you how much better I feel now! I still have some aches and mild pain but not the dibilitating pain I had all of those years! I have much more energy too. And, I'm only taking 1/4 of the medication I was taking before the supplements! So, I wanted to share this information with you. Creating this thread also helps me so I don't have to keep writing this over and over again. I'll just keep it bumped up. Please do not post on this thread. I don't want it long. If you have a question or comment, please start another thread or email me and I'll be glad to help any way I can.

Malic acid is found in apples and I know everyone has heard of magnesium. Magnesium is wonderful for your muscles and bones. Malic acid/ magnesium combination supplements help many but not all with fibromyalgia. My doctor didn't think they would help me but said they wouldn't hurt me, and so did my pharmacist, so I gave them a try. My doctor was wrong!

I purchased my supplements at Puritan.com. I tried to find them in the drug stores and Walmart, but couldn't. I could find magnesium but not the combination of the two that they used for the blind study I had read about. I did find malic acid at GNC but it had a lot of other stuff in it and not much magnesium. So, I found the combination tablet with malic acid and magnesium at Puritan.com. (I'm sure there are other places that sell it too.) I started out with one tablet the first day, two the next, three the next, and now I take four tablets a day...two in the morning before breakfast and two in the evening after dinner. (Start out slowly since magnesium can cause diarrhea. I didn't have any problems with these but I started out slowly.) Each tablet has 825 mg. of malic acid and 152 mg of magnesium. So, I'm taking a total of 3,300 mg of malic acid and a little over 700 mg of magnesium, when I take my multiple vitamin in account. My doctor said it was safe. In the blind studies that were done, the help with pain didn't come until the test subjects were taking at least 2,400 mg. of malic acid. So, you could only take three of these but I decided to take four and am staying at that level now. I will not take more. Also, these contain easily absorbed magnesium.

Always talk to you doctor and pharmacist before trying anything new. They will know if it is right for you and if it interacts with any other medication you are taking.

***If you decide to try this, be sure to take extra calcium.***

Here are some links to sites I used that helped me decide to try the malic acid/magnesium combination supplements.

This is called, Malic Acid, Energy, and Fibromyalgiahttp://intelegen.com/nutrients/malic_acid_energy__fibromyalgia.htm

This is called, Missing Nutrients Linked to Fibromyalgia and Chronic Painhttp://www.healingwithnutrition.com/fdisease/fibromyalgia/magnesiumstudy.html

This is called, American College of Physicians on Malic Acid for Treating Fibromyalgiahttp://www.fibromyalgiasupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/3113/T/FM

I hope this information will help some.

Sherrine Forum Moderator/Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia, Crohn's Disease, Ostomy, Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease, Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Glaucoma, Scoliosis, Ankylosing Spondylitis************************God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7